Minnesota: Home to The Future of Military Technology

July 18, 2017

Innovation is essential for sustaining strong national defense and security. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) uses 750,000 tons of minerals each year in technologies that protect the very troops that protect our nation.

For example, silver’s exceptional strength helps protect our troops as an essential component of the Air Force’s C17 transport and the Army’s Apache Helicopter. And copper can be found in naval vessels, U.S. coast Guard Ships, electronic devices and infrastructure. In fact, copper is the second most use material by the DoD. In addition, gold, nickel, platinum and palladium can all be found in various military gear, weapon systems and other defense technologies.

Minnesota is home to the Duluth Complex, one of the largest undeveloped mineral deposits in the world. In fact, it is world’s second largest copper deposit (34 percent of U.S. resource), third largest nickel deposit (95 percent of U.S. resource) and second largest platinum-group metals deposit (75 percent of U.S. resource). And all of these metals are of strategic importance to our troops and defense systems.

Annually, the U.S. imports 760,000 metric tons of copper, 130,000 metric tons of nickel, and 170,000 kilograms of palladium and platinum, but Mining Minnesota, a diverse coalition of organizations, companies and individuals working with local citizens, businesses and other organizations, hopes to change that trend while ensuring that our military gets the minerals and materials it needs when it needs them.

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